Columbus had
found the way to America. Now many European countries sent people
to this land. France, Spain, and Great Britain sent
colonists. These people crossed the
Atlantic Ocean. They claimed great chunks of land for their
countries. They pushed the people who lived there west.

Two
centuries went by. Great Britain claimed all of North America east
of the Mississippi River. It had thirteen
colonies. They
were on the East Coast. Spain held the territory west of the
Mississippi River. It was called Louisiana. France had lost
its claim to Canada, but many French people lived there.

The
people who lived in the thirteen colonies paid taxes to Great
Britain. Great Britain told them what to do. Soon the
colonists felt that Great Britain made them pay too many
taxes. It did not let them trade freely. The colonists wanted
independencefrom Great Britain. They began to fight. This war is called
the American Revolutionary War. George Washington led the American
side. The war lasted six years. It ended with a new country
being formed. It was the United States of America.

The
colonists had to turn the colonies into states. They wanted to
make one big country. The leaders wrote a plan to
unifythe colonies. It was called the
Articles of Confederation. The thirteen colonies were
allies. Each one had its own
government. There was no strong central government. This idea did
not work.

The leaders came up with a new plan.
They wrote the Constitution of the United States. It has governed
our nation ever since. It sets out the rights and freedoms of
citizens. It sets up our government in Washington, D.C. (learn
more about this in Unit 8). George Washington was the first
president of the new country.

It was a big
country. Great Britain had
ceded all its lands south of Canada. The
United States now claimed that land. The new country ran west to the Mississippi
River and south to Florida. Soon Americans
ventured north and west. The Northwest
Territory drew many people. Wildlife was plentiful there. Fur
trappers and traders came first. Settlers came after them. Soon the
United States let newly settled regions become states. Each area was
first a territory and then a state. By 1803, four new states were
part of our country. They were Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, and
Ohio.

South Dakota was far away. Changes in
government meant little to the people there. First France claimed
South Dakota as part of Louisiana. France then ceded it to Spain.
Spain returned the land to France. The Arikaras, Mandans, and other
Indian peoples did not know about these dealings. They lived much as
they always had. But there were some big changes. Horses had made
their way to the area. They had changed the life style of the
Lakotas and other tribes. French, Spanish, and soon American
trappers and traders began to live among the native peoples. Never
again would South Dakota be quite the same.